Mr. Fußball's budget system.
Flashback. Nearly 14 years ago and several times since have I asked myself "what if I had to start from scratch and had only a fraction of the budget compared to my current system's value?" At that time I wrote, “it's been a long journey. The costs have been distributed over two decades to become more doable than if I had to start over. What if my budget was—as it might be for many real-world people pondering the plunge—a tenth of what many audiophools have invested? What would I buy and why? Would it be a compromise or a bargain? In other words, could I buy a thrill for $2'500?"
Here's where we landed back in 2004:
• Omega Grande 6 speakers - $800
• Skylan Stands - $200
• Play sand - $2.53
• Jolida 102B integrated amp - $550
• Cabling (at 10%) $250
• Ah! Njoe Tjoeb 4000 CD player $700
• Grand total: $2'502.53

Fast forward to 2018. Recently Mr. Fußball, one of the newer members of our local Bad Boys Benevolent Association*, retired from his long-held globe-trotting job. George has a very fine system that I, for one, greatly admire. We'll learn more about that shortly. George is also a very nice guy who got it into his head to walk the audio gospel talk by helping other music lovers get a shot at the acceptable level of bliss that too many of us Bad Boys (and Girls) take for granted. So began his latest foray into the depths of the hobby. George now sells a ready-to-play system comprised of musically satisfying gear at an unbelievably wallet-friendly price. Not only did he assemble a budget system that redefines how little one can spend to enter the sect, he did so in a big way. The system in question clocks in at a mere $1'020. That's right, just one dub over one grand. That's less than half of what I spent on my experiment in 2004. And just one more thing: he sells at his cost. That's right, George doesn't make one cupronickel-clad coin.